Hut 8 Corp Secures DIFC License, Eyes Dubai Operations

The US-based Hut 8 Corp, an energy infrastructure platform integrating power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive use cases such as Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing, has announced that its subsidiary, Hut 8 Investment Ltd, has secured a Commercial Licence in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

The license authorises proprietary investments and certain non-financial commercial activity under the DIFC’s internationally recognised common law framework, the company said on Tuesday.

According to media reports, Hut 8 is part of American BTC, a new venture partially owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, which is slated to go public this year. Hut 8 will retain an 80% stake in the combined entity, though the Dubai expansion is unrelated.

The DIFC licence represents a structural expansion of Hut 8’s capital strategy, enhancing the Company’s ability to deploy Bitcoin held in reserve into structured derivatives strategies. It is also expected to broaden access to institutional counterparties, reduce trading friction, and lower transaction costs.

In fiscal year 2024, Hut 8 generated more than $20 million in net proceeds from covered call options premiums on Bitcoin held in reserve. Through its presence in the DIFC, Hut 8 expects to unlock multiple advantages that support continued expansion of its active treasury management program, including:

• Direct access to global derivatives markets: Enables Hut 8 to trade directly on institutional exchanges, tightening spreads and improving fee structures that previously introduced up to 10% in cost friction relative to spot pricing

• Broader access to institutional-grade products and counterparties: Unlocks a wider set of global liquidity providers and instruments, enhancing strategic optionality

• Greater flexibility in structured strategy design and execution: Allows Hut 8 to construct and manage advanced yield strategies that would be difficult to execute without a DIFC licence

• Regulatory clarity within a common law framework: Provides a globally recognised legal and regulatory foundation for institutional digital asset activity, delivering enhanced enforceability, compliance certainty, and jurisdictional alignment

Access to Range of Products

HUT 8 CEO Asher Genoot said that securing DIFC licence will enhance their ability to drive outsized shareholder returns through their integrated capital strategy.

Genoot added: “It allows us to execute directly on global derivatives markets, reduce trading costs, and access a broader range of institutional products. Within a regulatory framework built for structured digital asset strategies, we believe we can manage Bitcoin held in reserve more efficiently, manage risk with greater precision, and optimise yield through disciplined, proactive management.”

Hut 8 Corp. is an energy infrastructure platform integrating power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive use cases such as Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing.

The company take a power-first, innovation-driven approach to developing, commercializing, and operating the critical infrastructure that underpins the breakthrough technologies of today and tomorrow.

Hut 8’s platform spans 1,020 MW of energy capacity under management across 15 sites in the US and Canada: five Bitcoin mining, hosting, and Managed Services sites in Alberta, New York, and Texas, five high performance computing data centers in British Columbia and Ontario, four power generation assets in Ontario, and one non-operational site in Alberta.